German court appearance for suspected extremist bookseller

Matthias B accused of being prominent member of group promoting Nazi propaganda

Police in Germany have linked four people to a publishing house said to specialise in extreme right-wing material and Nazi ideology. EPA

A suspected German extremist appeared in court on Thursday accused of running a publishing house promoting and selling Nazi propaganda.

The man – identified only as Matthias B – was arrested on Wednesday in the German state of Saxony. His home, as well as properties connected to three other suspects, was searched by police.

The four were linked to a publishing house called The Rogue that prosecutors say specialises in extreme right-wing material.

Prosecutors said the suspects kept thousands of books that were printed abroad in storage centres but did not identify any of the titles in question.

Matthias B is accused of processing online orders and instructing other members to ship books to buyers. A second man, Enrico B, was arrested on Thursday.

The arrests come two months after German police arrested four members of an extremist chat group plotting to bring down the government.

The group – which was linked to anti-Covid-19 lockdown protests – planned bomb attacks on national infrastructure and plotted to abduct the country's health minister.